Truncheons in handbags, chasing criminals while wearing skirts and investigating high-profile murders were among the memories of guests at an event marking the 70th anniversary of female officers in Surrey Police.

A reunion was held earlier this month at the force's Guildford headquarters, Mount Browne, where around 60 former officers discussed the changing opportunities and levels of discrimination they witnessed during their service.

Chief Constable Lynne Owens, who in 2012 became the first woman to head up the force, addressed the guests, praising them for their work during what was at times a difficult period for women after they were granted equal status in 1944.

“It's because of some of the sacrifices you made that we're able to be here today," she said. “The fact is that we operate in a very different world now than what you experienced.”

In the early days of female police officers, women had to be single, no less than 5ft4in tall and were limited to duties involving other women and children.

After the Sex Discrimination Act was passed in 1975, women were fully integrated into policing, but some guests remembered this took some getting used to by their male counterparts.

Beverley Wingham, née Walker, 60, came from Canada to be reunited with her friends and colleagues who were based in Reigate during the 1970s.

"It was extremely male-dominated still," she recalled. "They weren't really accepting of us even when it came to passing that we got the same money.

"In their thinking, we couldn't do the same job. But we're still here to tell the tale. We bonded together as a group.

"It's amazing to hear about how things are now. Part of me would love to be part of this era."

Her former colleague Jane King, 60, said she had been pushed towards secretarial work during her school days but had "no regrets" about taking the brave decision to become a police officer.

Mrs Wingham added: "We all knew we were doing something different, but it was for us, it wasn't for the greater good of mankind."

Sandy Steedman, née Wright, 57, joined Surrey Police as a cadet in Caterham aged 17 and was an officer until the age of 21 before leaving to have children after, like many of those at the reunion, marrying a fellow officer. She now has a daughter in the police down in Dorset.

Asked whether she had encouraged her daughter to follow in her footsteps, she joked: “No, I discouraged her.”

Bonita Jones, née Legge, 57, was a cadet alongside Mrs Steedman until she too had children.

On the handbags containing truncheons that the women carried, she said she always thought it would be better to hit attackers with the handbags themselves as they weighed so much due to the handcuffs inside as well.

One case that stayed in her mind was a murder involving a baseball bat in South Godstone in 1980. She carried out enquiries that helped put the offender behind bars.

'Very well protected now'

Pam Henderson, 75, who was based in Guildford briefly in 1959, commented on the changing face of policing over the decades, as she recalled directing traffic by hand in the High Street and visiting cabins on the hour every hour in order to have contact with the public.

Anne Wallenstein, 74, who remains in Guildford to this day, said the nature of crime had also changed.

“There were no such things as drugs,” she said, adding the only such offences ever dealt with were people taking prescribed medication before driving.

“We weren't trained in any drugs and didn't look for any at all. I always feel that was quite significant when I look back.”

The High Sheriff of Surrey, Dr Helen Bowcock, and Inspector Rob Harris also spoke at the evening, with Dr Bowcock saying she felt Surrey was "very privileged" to be one of the few counties to have a female chief constable.

She warned, though, that women "weren't there yet" in terms of overcoming existing patriarchy and reaching the top of every profession.

One officer present was just starting out in her career in the police. Guildford PCSO Rachel Yeomans, 26, had been in the job seven weeks and said she was "inspired" by the stories she heard that night.

“I think the two experiences are worlds apart from the uniform worn to the way the women were treated,” she said.

“I can't imagine working back then - to go out there without equipment or communication. We're very well protected now.

“Every single one of the women here has got only positive things to say about the job, and there are not many people who could have done their jobs for so long and look back with so much enthusiasm.”